For the first time in 28 years, Tom Baker is returning to the world of Doctor Who in a series of five thrilling audio adventures from BBC Audiobooks. Paul Magrs' Hornet's Nest series kicks off in September with The Stuff of Nightmares...

Featuring covers illustrated by Ben Willsher, with design concepts and the Hornets’ Nest logo by Kasterborous' own Anthony Dry, the series sees the Fourth Doctor teaming up with Mike Yates...

Responding to an advert apparently worded for him alone, Captain Mike Yates (retired) is reunited with a ghost from the past. But why has the Doctor, that mysterious traveller in Time and Space, sent for his former UNIT acquaintance? Trapped by a horde of vicious creatures in an apparently innocuous English country cottage, the two old friends are on the brink of an enormous adventure.

As the Doctor relates his recent escapades, it becomes clear to Mike that they – and the Earth at large – are facing an enemy of unimaginable power and horrific intent. The nightmare is only just beginning…

The series will also be available as a download from www.audible.co.uk.Paul Magrs - whose work includes numerous Doctor Who books (Sick Building, Verdigris) the Iris Wildthyme character says of Tom return to the role:

“This is the first adventure with the Tom Baker Doctor since Logopolis. And it feels fantastic to write for him. I would say he's a brilliant mixture of everything the Fourth Doctor ever was. He's dark and sombre at times; other times he's gleefully macabre and mischievous.”

Fans eager to engage with the series before the release date should check out www.bbcshop.com/hornetsnest, where a dedicated page for the series will launch on 10th August. The page will contain exclusive content and material such as a Q&A with Tom Baker, photographs from the recordings, audio clips and a poll on Tom’s best moments as the Doctor.

Monday, 27 July 2009

John Simm will return as the Master in the two special episodes which bring David Tennant's era as the Doctor to a stunning conclusion. There's been speculation about Simm's involvement with the show but we can confirm he'll be back later this year, once again playing the Doctor's deadly nemesis.

Simm first appeared as the Master in Utopia, The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Time Lords. All three episodes were written by Executive Producer and Head Writer Russell T Davies who also wrote his upcoming adventure.

The character debuted in 1971 and on-screen has faced all but the Second and Ninth Doctors. Davies' version of the Master saw him retain his wit and cunning but since Utopia he's been callous and charismatic, sick, psychotic and enormously likeable. In short, everyone's favourite megalomaniac.

At the close of Series Three we saw the Master gunned down by his wife and whilst lying in his enemy's arms, he refused to regenerate. The world believed he had died and the Doctor accepted he was the last of the Time Lords. But this is Doctor Who and you can't keep a good bad guy down!

We've yet to find out how he survived but we can promise we'll be bringing you an exclusive interview with John Simm and some brand new Master material later this year. Stay tuned!

If anyone wants to remain in the dark about the two specials which form the Tenth Doctor's finale, please look away now! Footage from the first of these episodes was screened during the Doctor Who panel at Comic-Con International, 2009, meaning details about the adventure are officially out there!

As we revealed earlier today, the episodes feature the return of John Simm as the Master. The Doctor's fellow Time Lord is sporting a different hair colour in the finale, working a striking, lighter look.

And the Master isn't the only familiar figure returning from Doctor Who's recent past. Executive Producer Russell T Davies, who wrote David Tennant's final episodes, confirmed that Alexandra Moen is back as Lucy Saxon, the character we previously saw in The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Time Lords. Although married to the Master she put a serious dent in their relationship by shooting him but what happened to her after the events of Series Three has remained a mystery, so far...

Russell further explained that footage from the finale screened at Comic-Con included the voice of Timothy Dalton as the Narrator. His exact role in the specials is currently undisclosed but Dalton is, of course, best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.

One of the biggest cheers of the Doctor Who panel occurred when the trailer showed the face of Catherine Tate, last seen playing Donna Noble in Journey's End. Bernard Cribbins, who played her grandfather, Wilf, also features in the trailer which depicts a grim-faced Doctor walking

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

The wreckage it states BYZANTIUM (close up below). Could this be a reference to River Song's comment to The Tenth Doctor, "Crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet?" (SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY, 2008)

Thursday, 16 July 2009

The cover for the 411th issue of Doctor Who Magazine features a picture of Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor on the front cover. The issue will feature exclusive interviews with Tom Baker and Nicola Bryant, take a look at what has made Doctor Who the popular show it is today, include more production notes from Russell T Davies, a summary of all the latest news and much more. It will be released in all good newsagents next Thursday, 23rd July, priced £3.99.

Filming on The Waters of Mars began on 23rd February, 2009 but its title was only confirmed at the close of Planet of the Dead, back in April. The trailer for this next adventure suggested a dark, exciting drama with the Doctor appearing to be on a futuristic base, threatened by some sort of water-based menace. The brief sequence of clips delivered a sense of danger and tension, heightened by the Doctor ominously noting, 'Water always wins'.

The feel of the special was confirmed by Executive Producer Russell T Davies. 'The next one up [The Waters of Mars] is very dark. It's already scarring me and we haven't even seen the proper edit yet!' Julie Gardner confirmed on Doctor Who Confidential that it would be set on Mars, which may sound obvious, but the Fourth Doctor adventure, The Pyramids of Mars, barely even featured the Red Planet!

Recent specials have boasted fantastic casts and on 19th February we learnt that The Waters of Mars would continue the tradition. Acclaimed actress Lindsay Duncan, whose credits include GBH, Rome and Spooks, will be playing Adelaide who we now know is 'head of Mars base'.

Lindsay Duncan said she was 'thrilled' to be involved, adding, 'I've never done anything like this before and I'm really looking forward to working with David Tennant and the Doctor Who team'. She's joined onscreen by Peter O'Brien who plays Adelaide's second in command, Ed.

The team for this special comprises Executive Producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner with Nikki Wilson onboard as Producer. Nikki previously worked as script editor on the series four story, The Poison Sky, as well as producing series two of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The Waters of Mars is co-written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, with the latter best known for his work on Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures. More recently he's written the forthcoming Doctor Who animation, Dreamland.

Doctor Who veteran Graeme Harper once again returns to direct. Graeme was behind the lens on The Caves of Androzani and The Revelation of the Daleks back in the 1980s and his recent episodes include the cracking season finales Doomsday and Journey's End.

So what can we expect from The Waters of Mars? There's the question of the prophesy the Doctor heard at the close of Planet of the Dead. His song ending? He will knock four times? Will the Doctor learn more on the Red Planet? And when we last left him, he was travelling alone. The Time Lord who once delighted in sharing the wonders of the universe was once again the 'lonely angel'. But judging from what we already know of the story, he won't have long to worry about loneliness. There will be action, danger... and an awful lot of running!